[E-Daily Reporter Shin Yeong-bin ] Waldon Robotics, a U.S. robotics startup in which Samsung SDS (SAMSUNG SDS CO., LTD.(018260)) has made a strategic investment, is expanding its business footprint to the East and West Coasts of the U.S. and is now fully ramping up the deployment of robots in the field. Moving beyond laboratory demonstrations, the company is operating robots alongside humans for full shifts on actual production lines and is also validating the feasibility of robot deployment at manufacturing sites operated by SamsungElectroMechanics and Semes.

According to the information technology (IT) industry on the 8th, Walden Robotics secured a new headquarters this month in Cambridge, Massachusetts, spanning approximately 50,000 square feet (about 1,400 pyeong). In August, the company also opened an office in downtown San Francisco on the U.S. West Coast. By simultaneously establishing a research and development hub on the East Coast and a business hub on the West Coast, the company appears to be accelerating its efforts to expand its customer base and deploy robots.

The company is also expanding its workforce. It is currently recruiting for over 30 positions across fields such as artificial intelligence (AI), robotics, hardware, software, and field deployment. It is also hiring program management staff to deploy and operate robots across multiple client sites.

Nine Months

After Spinning Off from Toyota… Production Line Operating on “Full Shifts”

Waldon Robotics is a robotics startup that spun off from the Toyota Research Institute (TRI) in January of this year. It emerged from stealth mode last July and secured $300 million in funding. At the time, the company was valued at approximately $1.1 billion. Samsung SDS also made a strategic investment in Waldon through Samsung Venture Investment last June.

Waldon has moved beyond laboratory-level robot demonstrations and is now operating robots in actual production environments. According to the company, since May of this year, it has been operating robots alongside human workers on production lines for the entire shift.

Key tasks include machine tending, parts kitting, and sub-assembly. Machine tending involves the robot loading or unloading parts from manufacturing equipment. Parts kitting is the process of preparing the various components needed for production according to a specified configuration.

When deciding whether to deploy a robot in production, Walden evaluates not only task success rates but also the degree of autonomy, the frequency of human intervention, work speed, and the robot’s ability to adapt to new environments. If a robot encounters a difficult situation during operation, a human intervenes remotely, and the data collected during this process is then used to train the AI.

Manufacturing Operations Verified at SamsungElectroMechanics and Semes

Collaboration with Samsung SDS is also taking shape. Samsung SDS verified the feasibility of real-world application by using Walden’s general-purpose robots to perform tasks—such as transporting parts and replacing consumables—required at the manufacturing sites of SamsungElectroMechanics and Semes.

Samsung SDS is promoting its “Robot Transformation (RX)” initiative, which applies Physical AI to real industrial sites through collaboration with various manufacturing and robotics companies. Walden is one of Samsung SDS’s key robotics partners for conducting technical validation in the manufacturing sector.

At last month’s Real Summit, the companies also demonstrated how Samsung SDS systems integrate with Walden robots. The process involves the Samsung SDS interface issuing a task, after which the Walden robot picks up and sorts parts, uses an existing scanner, and captures a photo of the task results.

Samsung SDS plans to further validate the robot use cases verified at its “RX ART” Physical AI technology validation event at the sites of Samsung affiliates and expand the scope of application. Walden also recently stated that its collaboration with Samsung SDS is progressing toward specific manufacturing tasks.

Russ Tedrake, CEO of Walden Robotics, said in a video message sent to the Samsung SDS Real Summit last month, “To apply Physical AI to actual production sites and generate measurable results, large-scale on-site implementation capabilities and a deep understanding of the business are essential.”